We heard a rumor that AMD would cut prices of the AMD Radeon HD 7900 series before the NVIDIA GeForce GTX 680 'Kepler' cards came out, but they were quickly proven to be false and denied by AMD. We have seen online rumors this week that AMD will be cutting the price on their Tahiti-based cards soon, so we give AMD a quick call and our sources inside the company have confirmed that a price cut is taking place next week. On Monday, AMD plans on cutting the price of the Radeon HD 7970 by $50 and the Radeon HD 7950 by $40. These price changes are for the Suggested Retail Price (SRP), so it will be interesting to see if and when retailers will lower their prices. We asked if AMD will be lowering prices on the Radeon HD 7800 and Radeon HD 7700 series, but they declined to answer as it was still being discussed internally. AMD believes that with this price cut and the inability of NVIDIA to supply enough GeForce GTX 680 cards to market, will be enough for them to stay competitive.

Through our AMD Gaming Evolved program, we’ve been working closely with the folks at Codemasters and THQ on two of their upcoming titles, Dirt Showdown and Nexuiz, to ensure the best possible experience on AMD Radeon™ graphics. Dirt Showdown will be the fifth DirectX® 11 title from Codemasters, and we have been working with them to make each new game more visually stunning than the last. In DiRT Showdown, the gameplay is even more action-packed and the graphics engine underneath delivers many cutting-edge technologies, including full support for DirectX® 11 graphics and the industry-leading AMD Eyefinity technology, driving awesome car-smashing graphics across three or more displays for a truly immersive gaming experience.

Nexuiz is a fresh new take on the Arena FPS, done in DirectX® 11 style with the help of CryTek’s CryEngine 3. This game not only looks awesome, but brings loads of fun to fast-twitch gamers and breathes life into a genre that hasn’t had many recent updates. Like DiRT Showdown, it also supports AMD Eyefinity technology to give players the edge on their competitors.

Rolling through select etailer and retailer partners shortly, we will be launching the Three for Free promotion, bundling a free copy of Dirt Showdown and Nexuiz with each AMD Radeon™ HD 7900 Series graphics card. We will also be including a full copy of one of the top titles of 2011; Deus Ex: Human Revolution, as well as its DLC expansion The Missing Link.

In addition to these three DirectX® 11 titles, you will also be able to find AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 graphics cards for as low as $479 and AMD Radeon™ HD 7950 cards will be available for as low as $399, starting today. Our add-in-board partners will continue to offer a full range of custom boards, including both overclocked editions as well as AMD Eyefinity edition boards covering price points from $399 and up.

In summary, the AMD Radeon™ HD 7970 is now priced at an incredible $479 and continues to be the only enthusiast card available in volume, while the AMD Radeon™ HD 7950 is now an impulse buy away, at $399, and on both of these you will see our Three For Free offer which includes Dirt Showdown, Nexuiz and Deus Ex: Human Revolution with The Missing Link DLC.

And one more thing, for those looking for access to a cutting-edge graphics experience at a very wallet-friendly price, AMD Radeon HD 7770 GHz edition graphics cards will now be available at the sub-$150 sweet spot, as low as $139(US) SEP.